Indianapolis businesses make costly cybersecurity mistakes daily. Discover the top vulnerabilities putting your company at risk and how to fix them.
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Indianapolis businesses face a harsh reality: last year, 73% of small businesses faced cyber attacks; this year, 94% did. You’re not flying under the radar because you’re small. You’re actually more attractive to cybercriminals.
Small businesses are often seen as easy targets due to less stringent security measures, with many believing they’re too small to be targeted by cybercriminals. This misconception puts Indianapolis companies at serious risk. In Indiana, the total cost of cybercrime has already surpassed $160 million, and local businesses are paying the price for inadequate protection.
This dangerous mindset is exactly what cybercriminals count on. Cybercriminals assume that weaker security measures will make small businesses easier to crack than larger enterprises. They know you likely don’t have a dedicated IT security team or the latest protection systems in place.
The funds they receive from a number of such attacks can easily add up to what they’d receive from a larger enterprise. And, since SMBs tend to be easier to breach due to weaker security measures, it may take less time and effort to accomplish an attack. Media attention and law enforcement also may be less aggressive post attack, making the chance of an arrest and outing less likely.
Indianapolis businesses are particularly vulnerable because Indianapolis has recently experienced several significant cybersecurity incidents affecting various sectors. One of the most notable incidents involved Indiana University Health (IU Health), where a phishing attack led to unauthorized access to employee email accounts. Another significant incident occurred at the Indianapolis-based Eskenazi Health, which faced a ransomware attack in early 2024. These high-profile breaches demonstrate that no Indianapolis business is immune to cyber threats.
The financial impact is devastating. 43 percent of companies experienced significant data loss in the past year, and 60 percent of small businesses go out of business within six months of a data loss. Your size doesn’t protect you—it makes you a more appealing target for criminals looking for easy wins.
Your passwords are likely your weakest link. According to LastPass, 81% of breaches are due to weak passwords, yet Indianapolis businesses continue using easily guessable passwords like “Password123” or recycling the same password across multiple accounts.
Weak passwords are a common cybersecurity risk that small businesses often overlook. Cybercriminals frequently exploit this vulnerability by using various techniques to guess easy-to-remember passwords like “Password123” or by recycling the same password across multiple accounts. Additionally, sharing passwords among team members without restrictions or protection can increase the risk.
The situation gets worse when employees reuse credentials. A 2024 CyberArk study found that 49% of employees reuse the same credentials across multiple work-related applications. This means one compromised password can give attackers access to multiple systems in your business.
Consider the April 2024 Giant Tiger data breach: weak password policies and poor data management exposed millions of customer records. This severe breach demonstrates the risks your business could face without strict data security measures. It’s a clear call to action—strengthen your passwords and ensure your team is well-trained in cybersecurity practices.
The solution isn’t complicated, but it requires commitment. Implement strong password policies requiring complex, unique passwords for every account. Use password managers to generate and store secure passwords. Enable multi-factor authentication wherever possible. MFA adds an extra layer of security to your data and is very easy to set up. Most cybersecurity tools on the market have some form of MFA, so there’s really no reason to go without it.
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Your employees are either your strongest defense or your biggest vulnerability. Human error is one of the leading causes of security breaches, yet most Indianapolis businesses provide little to no cybersecurity training for their staff.
Employees can be a company’s greatest asset or its weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity. Without proper ongoing training, employees may inadvertently cause significant damage. Untrained employees may fall prey to phishing attacks, use weak passwords, or mishandle sensitive data, exposing the company to breaches.
Phishing scams are not highly technical in nature – they rely on human trust and lack of awareness to breach our cybersecurity efforts. This is the very reason why phishing scams have become the most common form of cybercrime in the world, leading to stolen credentials that give hackers free-range access to your data systems.
Your Indianapolis employees face sophisticated attacks daily. Small businesses receive the highest rate of targeted malicious emails at one in 323. Employees of small businesses experience 350% more social engineering attacks than those at larger enterprises. These aren’t obvious scam emails from foreign princes—they’re carefully crafted messages that look like they come from trusted sources.
Modern phishing attacks target Indianapolis businesses with local references, making them harder to detect. Attackers research your company, use your industry terminology, and even reference local Indianapolis events or businesses to gain credibility. Cybercriminals now use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate phishing, impersonate executives, and create artificial audio or video messages, and over half of businesses have experienced AI-related vulnerabilities. Additionally, attackers are leveraging AI to scale ransomware and social engineering schemes, making scams more believable than ever.
The training gap is alarming. Only 39% provide regular cybersecurity Indiana training to their staff, leaving them vulnerable to social engineering tactics and employee negligence, which account for a significant percentage of data breaches. Your team needs ongoing education about recognizing suspicious emails, verifying requests for sensitive information, and reporting potential threats immediately.
Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that one of the most common ways attackers gain access is by exploiting known vulnerabilities, especially through outdated software and misconfigured web applications. And this trend is growing: the exploitation of network vulnerabilities grew 180% year-over-year.
Indianapolis businesses often delay software updates, thinking they’re not critical. This creates massive security holes that cybercriminals actively exploit. Small businesses often overlook the importance of regularly updating their software and systems, with 47% failing to consistently patch vulnerabilities. Every delayed update is an open invitation for attackers.
Software vulnerabilities pose significant challenges for small businesses from a cybersecurity perspective. These vulnerabilities, which often stem from unpatched or outdated software, serve as potential entry points. Cybercriminals actively exploit these weaknesses, using them as gateways to compromise systems, steal sensitive data, or launch damaging attacks. And small businesses, who often have limited IT resources, can be especially susceptible if they do not have the means to regularly update and secure their software.
The solution requires a systematic approach. The devices that you are using to run your business need to stay up to date because operating systems release patches often. It’s something that a lot of people overlook because it doesn’t seem that important, but do not skip on those updates. Implement automatic updates where possible, maintain an inventory of all software and systems, and establish regular maintenance schedules.
Nearly 29,000 new CVEs were reported in 2024, with thousands rated critical — many exploited due to poor patching. Cloud misconfigurations and supply chain compromises remain among the fastest-growing threats for SMBs. Your Indianapolis business can’t afford to ignore these critical updates.
Proactive investment in cybersecurity safeguards is far cheaper than the cost of a data breach. Cybersecurity is not optional. The costs of a data breach far outweigh the costs of prevention, and non-compliance with evolving data privacy regulations increases legal and financial risks.
The cybersecurity mistakes we’ve covered aren’t just theoretical risks—they’re daily realities for Indianapolis businesses. From weak passwords to untrained employees to outdated software, these vulnerabilities put your company’s future at stake. 27% of small businesses say they are one disaster or threat away from shutting down their business. According to 71% of cyber leaders at the Annual Meeting on Cybersecurity 2024, small organizations have already reached a critical tipping point where they can no longer effectively secure themselves.
You don’t have to navigate these challenges alone. We have protected Indianapolis businesses for over 30 years, providing comprehensive cybersecurity solutions that eliminate these common mistakes. From employee training programs to 24/7 monitoring to disaster recovery planning, we help you build the defenses your business needs to thrive securely.
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